Three-way stop-valve.



F. 1. DITTRI'CH.

THREE WAY STOP VALVE.

APPLICATION .FILED MAI/24,1912.

Patented May 16, 1916.

ame/who@ FERDINAND il'. DITTRICI-I, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

THREE-WAY STOP-VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1916.

Application med May 24, 1912. serial No. 699,358.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FERDINAND J. DITT- RICH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Three-Way Stop-Valves, of which the following is aspecification.`

My invention relates to new and usefu improvements in 3-way stop-valves,and has for its object to provide a device of this character which willbe a combination coupling or joint and stop valve.

The body of the stop valve is provided with three radiating stems, oneof which is adapted to `be connected with the supply pipe and the othertwo to pipes leading to spigots in different parts of the building, forinstance one to the kitchen and one-.to the bath.

The object is to shut 0E either one of the two pipes leading from thestop-valve, allowing the water to pass through the other one, or shutofi the supply so that no water passes through the stop valve.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for allowingthe waste to pass from the pipe which is closed.

With these ends in view, this invention consists in the details ofconstruction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and thenspecifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this inventionappertains may understand how to make and use the same, I will describeits construction in detail, referring by letter to the accompanyingdrawing forming a part of this specification, in which- `Figure 1, is aside elevation of a 3-way stop valve made in accordance with myimprovement. Fig. 2, a section at the line a-m of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, asection at the line g/-g/ of Fi'g. 2. Fig. 4, is an end view thereof,the cap being removed.

In carrying out my invention as here embodied,2 represents the body ofthe stop valve open at both ends and having atV one end an integral,relatively narrow bridge 3 provided With a central opening 4. The bodycarries three stems 5, 6 and 7, preferably formed integral therewith andhaving meansfor connection with pipes, said means being here shown asintegral threads 8. Any one of these stems may be used for the thediameter of the outlets of connection with the supply pipe, the othertwo leading to spigots or similar outlets and these splgots may besituated any place. For convenience we will say that 7 is the lsouplply,5 leads to the kitchen and 6 to the 9 denotes a plug of suflicient sizeto snugly fit within the body and this plug is provided with a cut-awayportion 10 intermediateits ends and deep enough to form a suiiclentlylarge passage way for the supply 1n order that the pressure will not bereduced. This passage way is in alinement with the stems when the plugis in place so that when turned to the correct position, the supply maypass through the passage way. Back of this passage way remains a solidportion 11 which should be approximately of the` circumference of theplug, while the stems are approximately 3,- of the circumference of theplug. Thus it will be seen that when the` solid portion 1l is turnedtoward one of the stems, said solid portion 11 will overlap the passageWay of the stem and close the same.

The inner end of the plug is provided with a threaded projection l2which passes through the opening 4 in the bridge and has threadedthereon a nut 13, causing said plug to be drawn into the body and thereheld until its removal is desired. This bridge could be eliminated sincethe cap 14 threaded eXteriorly upon the body will retain the plug inplace. The plug is provided With a handle 15 for turning the same andthis handle may be of the ordinary shape, but here it is shown as beinga hand wheel and provided with an indicating mark 16, said indicatingmark being any convenient configuration such as the letter C, standingfor Closed, and this is on that edge of the handle that lies adjacentthe solid portion 1l of the plug and when the indicating mark ispointing to any of the stems, said stem is closed.

When the water is turned o and it is necessary to repair any of thepipes, that pipe which is to be repaired must have the water thereinwasted and to accomplish this end I provide a longitudinal opening 17 inthe plug and extending into the solid portion 1l where a radiating inlet18 passes into the plug and connects with the longitudinal opening 17.The longitudinal opening 17 leads to that end of the plug opposite thehandle, which end is covered with a cap 19 threaded externally upon thebody, said cap preventing the waste from running out unless desired.

From this description it will -be seen that when the plug is turned asshown in Fig. 3, a supply will pass from the supply pipe through thestem 7 through the passage way 10 in the plug to the stems 5 and 6 whichare connected to the pipes leading to the kitchen and bath. If the pipeleading to the kitchen is to be repaired, the plug is turned until theindicating mark on the handle is brought into alinement with the stem 5,the solid portion 11 of the plug then lying across said stem 5,shutting` oif the supply at this point to allow the supply to pass tothe bath. The water in the pipe leading from the stem 5 will then flowoutward through the inlet 1S and the longitudinal opening 17 until thespace between the walls of the cap 19 and the body are filled withwater, when said iow will stop, but if it is desired to have all of thewater pass out of this pipe, the cap 19 is removed. By turning the pluguntil the solid portion 11 lies across the stem 6, the supply to thebath will be shut oif while the supply continues to run to the kitchen.If the plug is turned so that the solid portion lies across the stem 7,the supply will be cut ofi3 so that neither the kitchen or bath willreceive any water. Vhen the plug is in this position, the cap 19 mustremain in place since the water would continue to run through thelongitudinal opening unless the supply was turned olf at the street.From this description it will be seen that a stop valve is producedhaving three stems, one of which is the supply and two the outlets andso yarranged that either one or both of the outlets may be shut off, sothat they receive no water, at the same time providing novel means forwasting the water when either of the outlets are closed and one whichmay be used as a coupling member or joint. When this device is used ittakes the place of a T-coupling and two stop valves so that there is asaving of time, labor and expense.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details ofconstruction as here shown, as these may be varied within the limits ofthe appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claimas new and useful,is

1. A 3-way stop comprising a body open at both ends, a relatively narrowbridge formed integral with the body and lying across one of the openends of said body, three ports leading from said body, a valve plughaving a transverse passageway intermediate its ends anda longitudinalopening extending from one end thereof to a point opposite thetransverse passageway, said opening terminating in an inlet, whereby theport which is closed will be in communication with the atmospherethrough one of the open ends of the body, and means carried by the plugarranged to coact with the bridge, whereby said plug will beA retainedin the body.

2. A 3-way stop comprising a body open at both ends, being exteriorlythreaded, a relatively narrow bridge formed integral with the body. andlying across one of the open ends of said body, said bridge having acentral opening therein, three ports leading from said body intermediateits ends and lying in the same plane, a valve plug rotatably mounted inthe body, said valve plug having a transverse passageway intermediateits ends adapted to aline with the ports and provided with an internallongitudinal opening extending from one end thereof to a point oppositethe transverse passageway or in line with the ports, said valve plugfurther having an inlet leading from the exterior thereof to saidlongitudinal opening, said inlet adapted to aline with the differentports whereby each port will be in communication with the atmospherethrough the open end of the body having the bridge lying thereacross,means carried by the valve plug arranged to pass through the opening inthe bridge, a nut threaded on said means for retaining the valve pluginits position and a cap threaded Copies of this patent may be obtainedfor rive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of I'atents.Washington, I). C.

